Bowing to public pressure, Malaysia PM Anwar now says anti-graft rally can go ahead in KL

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Jan 24 that

he is not opposed to civil society and opposition parties holding a street rally in Kuala Lumpur on Jan 25,

distancing himself from previous pronouncements by the police and home minister that such gatherings required special permits.

The government has been widely panned for trying to block the peaceful, anti-corruption rally, with critics saying Datuk Seri Anwar and his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition had, in the past, hardly heeded calls by police to get permits to hold similar protests.

He faced further public pressure when on Jan 23, nine former presidents of the Malaysian Bar that groups local lawyers said in a joint statement that the Anwar government is widely seen as failing to uphold judicial independence, particularly when compared with the three previous administrations.

“We have no problem (with the rally),” Mr Anwar told reporters. “Permission has been granted. The Home Minister (Saifuddin Nasution) himself said so.

“There are just certain locations where approval hasn’t been granted. But, for me, there’s no issue,” he was quoted as saying by the Free Malaysia Today news site, after performing Friday prayers at a university in Dengkil, Selangor.

Professor James Chin, an Asian studies expert at the University of Tasmania, told The Straits Times: “People kept reminding him of his hypocrisy. He was a student leader who did a lot of demonstrations without police permits. When he was opposition leader, he used to criticise the government for blocking peaceful demonstrations.”

Mr Anwar told reporters that the protest could go ahead, but that he doubted that any corruption had taken place during his tenure as prime minister.

He came to power after the November 2022 general election, promising reforms and taking a strong anti-graft stance. But he has been accused of being soft on corruption in his two years in power, especially when it involved political allies such as several leaders of Umno.

Separately, Datuk Seri Saifuddin told reporters that he had informed the Cabinet on Jan 24 of “the government’s respect for the freedom of assembly guaranteed by the federal Constitution.”

“We will facilitate the rally in accordance with the Peaceful Assembly Act. Organisers and participants must comply with the rules, including not bringing sharp weapons or minors,” he said.

This was the opposite of what the authorities had been saying in the past few days. Kuala Lumpur police chief Rusdi Isa had earlier on Jan 24 said the rally organiser had yet to prove that it had obtained permission from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall to use Merdeka Square as the site of the rally.

Mr Saifuddin himself had on Jan 21 defended a police directive requiring the organiser to seek permission from both the Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the owners of Sogo shopping centre, where rally-goers plan to begin their 1km march to Merdeka Square.

Police had also warned the public against attending the gathering, saying that the organiser had failed to comply with legal requirements, including obtaining consent from the venue owners.

The rally organiser in turn responded by saying that the necessary notices had been submitted in compliance with the Peaceful Assembly Act.

The organiser, a previously unknown group that calls itself People’s Secretariat Against Corruption, aims to gather some 50 organisations for the rally, and members of the main opposition groups, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, have also said they would participate.

Critics have pointed out that Mr Anwar and his PH coalition have a long history of organising street protests, having mobilised tens of thousands of supporters following his dismissal as deputy prime minister in 1998, as well as for numerous other demonstrations over the years before coming to power.

People’s Secretariat spokesman Zaim Zulkifli said: “We do not merely question the government for political purposes or to gain attention. We are concerned with their stance on several misconduct and corruption issues, particularly the acquittal of Zahid Hamidi and Rosmah Mansor’s cases.” The High Court in Sept 2023 discharged Deputy Prime Minister Zahid from all 47 charges of criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering, while former premier Najib Razak’s wife Rosmah was in December 2024 acquitted of 17 money laundering and tax evasion charges.

“We are organising this protest to demand the government’s action on the current hopelessness of integrity, and anti-corruption issues,” he told ST.

The rally’s agenda calls for three key demands, he said. These are to separate the Attorney-General’s Chambers from the Prime Minister’s Office, free the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) from political interference, and introduce a long-awaited political funding Act.

Since joining forces with former rival Umno to form the coalition government after the 2022 polls, Mr Anwar has faced public anger when Umno leaders – such as Datuk Seri Zahid and Najib – appeared to have been given reprieves in some of their corruption cases.

Meanwhile, anti-graft agency MACC has launched probes into at least three of Mr Anwar’s opponents, including former premiers Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin.

Mr Anwar has denied any involvement in influencing court cases or investigations.

The Jan 23 statement by the nine former Malaysian Bar presidents focused on the alleged complicity of the Anwar government in recent graft cases.

“The pressures put on the judiciary in the last several years by external forces were clear to many of us, who know the signs only too well,” they said in their statement.

“It is widely perceived that the previous three governments valued and respected judicial independence more than the current government, which is extremely disappointing, to say the least.”

The three previous governments were led by former premiers Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Muhyiddin and Mahathir.